Abstract: A coherent superposition of rotational states in D$ 2$ has been excited bynonresonant ultrafast 12 femtosecond intense 2 $\times$ 10$^{14}$Wcm$^{-2}$ 800 nm laser pulses leading to impulsive dynamic alignment.Field-free evolution of this rotational wavepacket has been mapped to hightemporal resolution by a time-delayed pulse, initiating rapid doubleionization, which is highly sensitive to the angle of orientation of themolecular axis with respect to the polarization direction, $\theta$. Thedetailed fractional revivals of the neutral D$ 2$ wavepacket as a function of$\theta$ and evolution time have been observed and modelled theoretically.